As I am writing this I'm sitting on the plane taking me from Malaga to Birmingham :
This is my goodbye to Spain. I arrived about five months ago and a lot has happened since the moment I got my huge and heavy luggage out of the car to get them up three floor in the pension; but it feels like it was yesterday. I have met so many amazing and interesting people in my time here and I have seen wonderful places!
Recently I have done a little trip to Seville, where I visited Raf and Ned again and which enabled me to see some other places in Seville. I was actually really positively surprised by the Alcazar Palace. Having visited the Alhambra and actually seeing it every day has made me a bit smug and I didn't feel that I missed out in not discovering the Alcazar when we first visited Seville. Not only was it free, but it was truly beautiful! The gardens were astonishing and the palace itself shows a magnificent architecture. For any visit of Seville, I would definitely recommend this place.
Two days and an exam later, I went to Madrid with Biggi. We stayed with a couchsurfer, who luckily lived in Chueca, in the city centre. The wonderful location enabled us to discover the Spanish capital by foot. The perfect weather made the Retiro park such an enjoyable experience and after that we were off to the Prado. As we had booked the tickets online, we weren't aware of the fact that students from the European Union could enter for free, but the angry counter lady didn't want to refund us the money. However any expense in Madrid was justified by the fact that we were living for free...
The Rastro Flea Market wasn't as great as I had pictured it, as I was comparing it to Mauerpark in Berlin.(Yes, Berlin might also have made me a tad smug) There were mainly tourists and only a few stalls actually had good offers, like the 2€ jumper I purchased. I was also disappointed by the Plaza de Toros. The corrida building is very beautiful indeed, but not only was the (free) taurine Museum closed for works, the visit of the arena also cost 7 Euros, which was clearly too much. As we walked back, we stumbled upon a calligraphy exhibition in the Casa Arabe, which made up for the failure at the Plaza de Toros.
But let's get back to the good parts of the city, as indeed I found the stay extraordinary. We walked around in a more alternative quarter of the city, where the amount and diversity of bars and cafés were astonishing. The presence of street art reminded me of my dear Berlin and I instantly felt homey. I will always be a big-city-girl...
I am now left with melancholic thoughts about Granada - So many people and places I will miss, and of course Miguel's Spaghetti Carbonara ;)
It is time to start a new life.
This is my goodbye to Spain. I arrived about five months ago and a lot has happened since the moment I got my huge and heavy luggage out of the car to get them up three floor in the pension; but it feels like it was yesterday. I have met so many amazing and interesting people in my time here and I have seen wonderful places!
Recently I have done a little trip to Seville, where I visited Raf and Ned again and which enabled me to see some other places in Seville. I was actually really positively surprised by the Alcazar Palace. Having visited the Alhambra and actually seeing it every day has made me a bit smug and I didn't feel that I missed out in not discovering the Alcazar when we first visited Seville. Not only was it free, but it was truly beautiful! The gardens were astonishing and the palace itself shows a magnificent architecture. For any visit of Seville, I would definitely recommend this place.
Two days and an exam later, I went to Madrid with Biggi. We stayed with a couchsurfer, who luckily lived in Chueca, in the city centre. The wonderful location enabled us to discover the Spanish capital by foot. The perfect weather made the Retiro park such an enjoyable experience and after that we were off to the Prado. As we had booked the tickets online, we weren't aware of the fact that students from the European Union could enter for free, but the angry counter lady didn't want to refund us the money. However any expense in Madrid was justified by the fact that we were living for free...
The Rastro Flea Market wasn't as great as I had pictured it, as I was comparing it to Mauerpark in Berlin.(Yes, Berlin might also have made me a tad smug) There were mainly tourists and only a few stalls actually had good offers, like the 2€ jumper I purchased. I was also disappointed by the Plaza de Toros. The corrida building is very beautiful indeed, but not only was the (free) taurine Museum closed for works, the visit of the arena also cost 7 Euros, which was clearly too much. As we walked back, we stumbled upon a calligraphy exhibition in the Casa Arabe, which made up for the failure at the Plaza de Toros.
But let's get back to the good parts of the city, as indeed I found the stay extraordinary. We walked around in a more alternative quarter of the city, where the amount and diversity of bars and cafés were astonishing. The presence of street art reminded me of my dear Berlin and I instantly felt homey. I will always be a big-city-girl...
Cupcakes in Madrid
I am now left with melancholic thoughts about Granada - So many people and places I will miss, and of course Miguel's Spaghetti Carbonara ;)
It is time to start a new life.
